Time to Get the Ball Rollin'

School is over for the summer (until I start summer school on Monday).  Now that I have more free time on my hands, I am going to try to actually use our blog.  

This school year was rough.  I felt like I was always so busy and just running and running.  Between really hard music theory, music history, choir, piano class and a part-time job, I didn't have any time to blog.

This brings me to today.  My last final was on Monday.  My grades keep coming in and I have 5 As so far out of 7 classes.  I'm feeling pretty good.  I think I will have 6 As and 1 B.  I'm pretty proud of that.  Maybe I'll catch up to my summa cum laude husband.  Since school has let out, I have been soooooooo lazy.  It feels good to just sit on my bum and watch a movie.  I know that there are things I need to get done this summer, but can't I start next week?  hahaha.

I am watching The View.  I'm thinking that I don't really like this show.  It's just a bunch of gossipy ladies.  Today they were talking about Heaven and Hell and if they believe in it.  They have Ron Howard and Tom Hanks on today talking about Angels and Demons that comes to theatres today.  It's interesting to hear different beliefs and ideas about what happens after this life.

I'm so glad for the knowledge that I have as a member of the church.  It's very comforting and makes life way less confusing.  

Ok, next topic.  I really want a Westie.  They are the cutest dogs ever.  I always had a dog growing up and my parents still have one to this day.  Dogs are so loving and always want to be with you.  I would love to have a dog, but I would feel bad because we are so busy.  Maybe I will get one for my graduation.

Well... I think I will watch Little Women now.  I love summer. 

More Las Vegas Pics!

Lost Wages AKA Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas for Spring Break. It was a great trip and really fun even though I was getting over the flu. We didn't actually gamble in "Lost Wages" but we definitely spent a lot of money. Bottles of water were like $3.00 everywhere we went.

We stayed at the Rio. On Thursday, our plane left Phoenix around 4:00 p.m. so we didn't get to our hotel until close to 6:00. We decided to relax and not go out that night because we were so tired. Both of us were really hungry so we ate at the cheapest restaurant we could find in our hotel. About $12.oo/person. Not too shabby. I had the BEST BLT with avocado and Michael had a yummy mushroom burger.

The Rio only has suites for rooms. We got lucky enough to have a corner room--2 of the 4 walls were windows! This is the view from our bed. We LOVED our room and enjoyed looking out on The Strip at night.

We were on the 15th floor and our room was at the very end of this HUGE HALL:

Needless to say, we did plenty of walking on our trip. Luckily, the Rio has a FREE shuttle that took us to the strip. On Friday we were the only ones on our shuttle. I guess nobody was out and about at 10:00 a.m. like us. We wanted to see the sights!

DAY 1!!!

Once we got to The Strip this is what we saw on the way to Caesar's Palace:

The fountains in front of the Venetian

The Eiffel Tower in front of Paris

We finally made it to Caesar's Palace and this is what we saw inside:

The Trojan Horse (F.A.O. Schwartz Toy Store)

There are toys inside of the horse!

There is a HUGE fish aquarium with some cool fish, but we couldn't get any good pictures, see:

Next, we went to the free show there in the mall. It was really funny. There were animatronic robot people like Pirates of the Caribbean. It was definitely a "free show" if you know what I mean. CHEESECAKE FACTORY!!!!!!!

I'm not posting any more pictures of the show because I am so bored just thinking about it.

NEXT! We decided to head over to the Venetian to see if we could get tickets to Blue Man Group. We walked around the Venetian and the Palazzo for HOURS before our show started. We were EXHAUSTED by the end of the night, but this is what we saw:

Wax Blue Men

Humpty Dumpty

Gondola Ride

The Living Garden

FINALLY we got to the show!

I never get tagged... nor do I tag.

Well... McKenzie tagged me and since she was one of the best roommates ever, I have to oblige.

10 Random Things About Me:

1.  I am watching an infomercial about Lifestyle Lift right now.  (I can't find the remote and I am too tired/sick to find it.)

2.  I can think of a song for just about any word/circumstance.  Michael and I have some friends who think were are pretty strange because we bust out in song all the time.

3. I LOVE Target.  It is the best store EVER.

4.  I never got asked to prom in high school.  I always had to "find" dates.  Lame.

5.  I am really paranoid about getting skin cancer because I am so fair and I live in Arizona.

6.  I am completing my 6th year of college this semester.  I will have roughly 190 credits by the time I get my B.M.  from ASU.

7.  I just got called as the Ward Music Director in my new ward.  I lead all of the congregational hymns and plan music for sacrament meetings.  I think it's awesome because I am taking an LDS Hymns institute class AND choral conducting for my major right now.  The Lord knows me, for sure.

8.  I have blood sugar issues.  If I am hungry, I get really sick.  Like... wanting to throw up sick.  Fasting is a nightmare for me.  I also get really cranky.  Poor Michael.  I am a crazy woman when I'm hungry.

9.  I have road rage.  I don't know what it is, but stupid drivers make me really angry.  It could be all of the snowbirds and students around here.  I need to work on this for sure.

10.  I am not very social.  I really have to force myself to get to know people.  I think I would be content to not have people over EVER as long as my family is around.  Michael is the opposite.  He really forces me to be social.  It's good for me.

Well... that's about it.  This kind of made me realize how strange I am.  Yikes.

Sick Day

I am hope sick today.  It sucks.  I can't even spell.  I must REALLY be sick.  You should have seen/heard me at my piano midterm yesterday.  Hilarious!

My new hat

I have a new hat.  It's from Nordstrom.  Actually, NordstromRack.  I got it for $10 because there's a little mark on the side.

You may see me wear it.  

I'm wearing it now.  I usually don't wear it to or from work, but it's one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

There.  I felt bad that I haven't posted in over a month.  Now you have a posting.

I'm working on another idea for a post... Maybe you'll see it soon.

Am I an environmentalist?

I'm conservative, and I believe in markets.  Except when they don't work.  One of the reasons that markets fail is that the people making the decisions don't really experience the full consequences of their decisions.

For example, Johnny likes burritos, but they give him gas.  Johnny lost his sense of smell, so he thinks that they don't smell.  But he works in a call center, where people all sit next to each other.  When he has burritos for dinner, all of his coworkers can smell it.  Of course, nobody will tell him that he smells after burritos, because that's kinda awkward.  Without the knowledge that his burritos are causing his coworkers to choke to the very edge of death, Johnny eats three every Tuesday and Thursday.  Since he's not suffering, he doesn't even consider the pain that his beany burritos inflict on his coworkers.

There, now you understand what economists call "externality".  Somebody makes a decision without personally experiencing all of the costs or benefits.

I think our lifestyle is kinda like this.  We love our big houses, big cars, and big tvs (I know that I do!).  And since this whole climate change catastrophe may be decades or even a century away, I don't really consider it in my decisions.  After all, nobody can tell me exactly how bad it will be, and many people are somewhat uncomfortable about it anyway.

So like burrito-eating Johnny, I'm enjoying my consumerism and energy-heavy lifestyle.

But I believe that if Johnny were simply aware of the impact of his decisions, he might make different decisions.  Maybe he'll only eat one burrito, or maybe he'll change his burrito nights to Saturday and Sunday (homemade, of course).  Maybe he'll visit a doctor and get his plumbing checked out.  Maybe he'll walk outside to allow the burrito's effects to dissipate - away from his coworkers.

There are tons of choices for Johnny!

And there should be some choices for me.  I don't know what choices I'll make yet, but I am trying to consider the impacts of the things I do.  Some little things I've already been doing include reusing my nalgene when I have it nearby, CFLs throughout our home, LIVING on cruise control, and considering my electricity usage when setting the thermostat.  I would like to say that I reuse shopping bags, carpool or mass transit, and drive more efficiently.

However, I know that individual actions are practically negligible.  So that's why I support people who find ways to get lots of people to do what's right.  

Although I generally don't like the Sierra Club, they have an invitation to cut your carbon output by 2% this year.  Seriously, 2% is nothing.  Swap out a 5 pack of lightbulbs with CFLs, and you've done it.  And for the pledge, you get this Missy Higgins track as a pat on the back.  And on top of that, for the next 5+ years, your bank account will thank you when you get your power bills.

So check out http://missypledge.warnerbrosrecords.com/.